WestJet trademarks potential names for regional carrier

WestJet Airlines Ltd. is kicking the tires on more than a dozen names for its new regional carrier, including potentially branding it Chinook, Echo, Reach or Encore.

The Calgary-based carrier has decided that regardless of what name it picks, it will try to extend the goodwill the WestJet brand has created over the past 16 years to the new carrier by painting its fleet of Bombardier Q400s with the same livery and logo as the mainline’s Boeing 737s planes.

WestJet is in the midst of putting the final touches on its regional carrier, which it hopes to have in the air in the second half of 2013.

That process includes not only picking a name, but plotting its network. Dozens of smaller U.S. and Canadian communities, which have little or no commercial air service, from Brandon, Man., to Medicine Hat, Alta., are vying to be added to its network.

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A decision on initial destinations will be made in early 2013, said Robert Palmer, WestJet spokesman.

In the meantime, WestJet reached out to its employees to name the new subsidiary, and received more than 800 submissions, Mr. Palmer said.

The field had been narrowed, and WestJet has taken trademarks out on more than a dozen potential names, including Venture, Momentum, Q4Connect, Connect, Connex, Link, Breeze, Curo, Chinook, Echo, Reach, Regional and Encore.

An employee vote will be held on the name later this year, said Mr. Palmer.

“At this point, we don’t know which names (or how many) will make it on to the ballot,” Mr. Palmer said in an email.

Air Canada paints all the planes of its regional affiliates with the same “Air Canada Express” logo.

WestJet’s new regional airline name will only appear on boarding passes, on the website, and other locations mandated by law to show who will be operating the flight, he said.

Andris Pone, Coin Branding Inc. president, said WestJet might be missing an opportunity to differentiate the product in the minds of consumers. He recognized why WestJet is keeping its branding uniform given its admirable brand recognition. But he said the customer experience on its 737 will be different than on its Q400.

“I’m not sure you want to leave it WestJet, because then there’s really no obvious demarcation between the mainline and the regional carrier,” he said.

There are ways you could do both, including calling the regional carrier something that elicits the WestJet brand but is “shorter and snappier.”

He pointed to the retailer American Eagle as an example, which launched a subsidiary brand for young women, aerie, with that same goal in mind.

Fadi Chamoun, BMO Capital Markets analyst, expects more details about the regional carrier will be made available on Dec. 6, when the carrier holds its annual meeting with analysts at Bombardier Aerospace’s plant in Toronto, where the Q400 is assembled.

He believes the regional carrier could add about $360-mllion in additional revenue at WestJet by 2015, and contribute up to $30-million to its bottom line.

That comes in addition to the $68-million in additional earnings he expects in 2013 from the introduction of WestJet’s premium economy seating, he noted.

“We believe that WestJet’s strong brand name, the monopolistic nature of some of the markets it intends on serving, and strong execution imply moderate execution risks and there exists the potential for this initiative to be revenue and earnings accretive right out of the gate,” Mr. Chamoun said in a recent note to clients.